A Battle Once Begun Must Be Won

"A battle once begun must be won. K'ung-ming(an ancient Chinese hero in the novel The Romance of the Three Kingdoms) was very strict in his advice to leaders embarking on a struggle. He was, in other words strict with himself. He said 'If even a single person is harmed, it is my personal responsibility.'"

--Daisaku Ikeda

Barbara is still fighting to overcome her cold but is doing much better. We see the oncologist on Tuesday and talk about when her next chemo treatment will be. We are hoping it can wait for next week because we have the great fortune to have been invited (actually she was invited and I get to go with her) to the premiere of the movie Precious next Saturday night at Alice Tully Hall. We are very excited about it and don't want any side effects to get in the way.

But as stated above "a battle once begun must be won" and we don't want to do anything that may delay our victory. Interesting how I feel our winning this battle is a must not only for us, but in order to show actual proof of our practice. Now that may not be news or odd to those who practice this Buddhism but to others it might seem like adding another "burden" (for lack of a better word) to our already heavy load. But that is not true. This is truly a great opportunity since we get to dig deep within ourselves and learn lessons during the process. "If even a single person is harmed, it is my personal responsibility" ... so I must make sure that not one person is discouraged by our struggle. And if I can actually accomplish this there is no bigger victor than myself.

"If you climb the mountain without absorbing the view"

Earlier today I was reading part of the manuscript of a travel memoir that Kensington (the company I work for) is publishing next June. In the book the author Brad Herzog, takes a quote from Joseph Campbell's thoughts on myths and heroes...


“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”



Then Brad goes on to say...



"The last part, while it may be least exciting, is actually most important. It implies that one falls short of the heroic ideal if there is achievement without understanding, forces overcome without lessons learned and dispersed—that is, if you climb the mountain without absorbing the view."



Now what does that have to do with Barbara and me? In no way am I trying to imply that we are heroes of any kind. We, just like everyone else are trying to live our lives and face the obstacles that approach us head-on. But while in our circumstance any victory would be welcome, it seems to me we would be missing much if we didn't try and learn the many lessons that are there in this trial. Our dear friend Rino said to me yesterday "turning poison into medicine is OUR job."



Getting to the top of the mountain without absorbing the view while we climb would be a pity. As we say in Buddhism our "Human Revolution" is the real benefit. Overcoming this illness (which I tell you unequivocally we will) but not understanding the process is a half victory, and I can't accept anything but 100% victory.



What do you think?

Where to start?

Why have I decided to start this blog?

If you are reading this I assume you know that Barbara and I have been facing a rather big challenge. The chronic leukemia that Barbara has been living with for the past 9 years decided to take a turn and become more aggresive within the last year. Actually, I'm not really sure when this happened but we became aware of it within the last 4 or 5 months.

So, in trying to live a somewhat normal life I thought it would be easier to let everyone know what is going on (not only with Barbara's health but also how we are dealing with everything) by starting a blog. Somewhat of a journal. It is also an opportunity for you to say hi to Barbara (and me) without having to be concerned that you may disturb her as she gets her rest.

I am hoping this develops into a dialogue on life and it's many battles, and ways to achieve victory no matter what is happening.

Let us know what you think.